LukeDooley.com

I won’t make it a habit of commenting on sporting events on this blog. However, since it is March, and that is the absolute best time of the year for College Basketball, I must comment….

I just watched two of the most exciting finishes to games that I have seen in a while.

1.) Texas beat WVU in a wild 10 second frenzy at the end of the game.

2.) Gonzaga totally choked at the end of the game, and handed UCLA the game in the waning moments of the game.

In other “March Madness” news…

Journey Church is over halfway through our own version of March Madness. I have heard great reports from all of the groups regarding their giveaways. It is fun to hear all of the stories from the different activities throughout the week. I am confident that the remaining events will go just as smooth! I’m looking forward to it all….

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world. james 1:27

Most of you know the story of Chad Canipe. In his passing, Chad leaves behind a wife and two wonderful boys. Please notice the link on the sidebar of my blog… by going there you will be able to donate money to help the Canipe family memorial fund. I encourage you to give… whether you knew them or not. There are several options for giving, find one that works….

http://www.canipememorial.com/

Luke

My heart hurts this morning. My friend, pastor, and mentor Tom lost a great friend this morning.

Although I was not a close personal friend with Chad, I know that he changed those around him. He was a difference maker and a world changer.

I ask that you would pray for Chad’s wife Renee and their two young sons.

Testing 1,2,3….


So, this is me testing the new blogger widget that Mike U. tipped me off to. Supposing that this works, I am going to be utterly excited. Life just keeps getting easier with the Mac

Maybe I’ll make a real life post with some substance tomorrow! 

-Luke-

I have returned to the Buckeye state, and while the current Ohio weather is by no means “warm”, it is definitely warmer here than it was in Chicago. I about froze my ohio/florida tail off as we walked 10+ blocks trying to find an authentic Chicago pizza restaurant. For the record… GENO’S is not the best option (we found out the hard way)…

Now for an explanation as to why I was in Chicago. After an amazing church service Sunday and a wonderful experience at Chipotle, I headed to the Student Ministries Leadership Conference at Willow Creek Community Church. I was joined by my good friend from college, Austin Abney. Austin is a great guy and a dynamic leader who is currently serving as student pastor at a church in Kentucky. We met up with some fellow student pastors, and left with a few new friends from Indiana and Oklahoma.

We had a great time at the conference. There was some tremendous content during the main sessions, and the breakouts were extremely relevant! If there is one idea that I felt most impacted me, it has to be the fact that Student Ministry is all about building relationships! Relationships with students….relationships with adult leaders… relationships with parents, etc…. I have always known this, but I now realize how critical this really is.

Overall, it was a great couple of days, and I left feeling very inspired and full of new ideas and energy. I can’t wait to share these ideas with my team, and other ministry leaders here at Journey. I look forward to answering any questions that you might have, or sharing some insight.